Removal of the Pltcalrn Islanders to Norfolk Island. I'ji 



advantages of Norfolk Island had been persistently overrated 

 by early visitors, the consequence being that the poor Plt- 

 cairners found themselves woefully disappointed in the ex- 

 pectations they had formed of their sojourn In this terrestrial 

 paradise. 



'^ The scenery of the island Is everywhere lovely, and the 

 peculiarity of its vegetation, especially when seen from sea- 

 ward, exercises a kind of fascination over the beholder ; but the 

 ground, which is the most important consideration for the 

 settler, who is bound to the soil, not by the sublime and 

 beautiful, but by the useful, is very far from being fertile, and 

 the sole descriptions of produce extensively raised are maize 

 and sweet potato. Wheat and barley are so exposed to frost 

 and mildew that only one crop out of several proves remuner- 

 ative, and the potato makes so small a return, in consequence 

 of the amount of seed and labour required, that it is only cul- 

 tivated as a rarity. Even the commonest vegetables are scanty 

 and of poor quality, and under these circumstances it is at 

 least probable that the cultivation formerly caiTled on by the 

 English convicts and criminals, in which the results would 

 naturally exceed expectation, had led to the mistaken idea 

 that Norfolk Island was fertile. It is about 9000 English 

 acres (14 English square miles) of superficial area, of which 

 about 1500 acres only are cleared, and but one-half of that, 

 or one-twelfth of the whole, suitable for cultivation. 



''It is just possible to land on either the south or north 

 sides, if the water be smooth ; the little village is situated near 



